Dom Lachowicz wrote: > > Alessandro, > > I've read your repeated requests, and I've already alerted those > responsible for those sections of code to your problem. This "just > works" for me, so I'm unable to reproduce your problem.
I realize this might a problem with the specific configuration of my machine. The trouble is I do not know where to put my hands to try and fix it. > However, please note that no-one is responsible for responding to any > email, request, or bug notice. The fact that anyone responds to any > requests should be taken with gratitude, especially because we do > respond to the overwhelming majority of them in a positive manner. We > try to help out where we can, but we can't always help out, nor do we > always want to. I do not take you as responsible for any malfunctioning of Abiword, especially when it comes to functionality that is probably rather delicate and depends on external libraries. Do believe, Mr. Lachowicz, that I take with deep gratitude and appreciation all efforts to develop and support free software in general and Abiword in particular. I also ask you to believe that I have a positive attitude, whereby I usually try to help users of free software by sharing my understanding (and sometimes my misunderstandings) with other users. I do not take time to dive into the code of a program, but I usually do take what time I can to answer those questions that are at my level of understanding on the mailing lists of my favorite free software projects. I would be glad to lend a hand here, on the Abiword users' list, but until recently I had no need for a full-featured word processor--I use emacs most of the time--so I have only a limited understanding of Abiword. Now, I am called upon by a friend wishing to use a word processor in Arabic; for this reason, I have taken interest in Abiword and have gotten into the habit of reading this mailing list, and sometimes of sharing my thoughts with the developers as well as the other users. > Try not to take things so personally. If you have a > problem, file a bug in bugzilla that way it's sure to get our attention > and will not forgotten. I suggest that you read > http://www.abisource.com/support/expectations.phtml as it addresses my > feelings on this subject quite well (perhaps because I authored it, in > part). I must guarantee you that I read that document, and that I have mixed feelings about it. Although my experience in the free world of GNU/Linux systems is relatively short, I have come to expect more from free software projects than I ever did from commercial software developers. I have come to expect an added value that I doubt could ever be found with commercial products: democracy. Let me add that I am not offended with you for the answers you gave Mr. Thompson and myself: neither have I taken personally. I simply wish to remind the community, and the developers in particular, that for free software to thrive, we all must maintain as positive an attitude as we can. This includes responding tactfully to other peoples requests, even if they might redundant or banal. As far as the "bug" concerning the right-to-left feature, I have never thought about mentioning it on bugzilla, because I was not and am not convinced that there is a bug in the Abiword source. I believe there must be a "buggy" interaction between Abiword and some components of my distribution, which I will have a hard time identifying without the help of other users, expert with the right-to-left feature, or of the developers. > As for my response to David, I might remind you of the adage that one > "catches more flies with honey than with vinegar." His lack of tact > (which is phrasing it litely, and I've instead interpreted it as a > general beratement of the developer community) was unacceptable. My > responses did have merit (and, contrary to your belief, was not a waste > of time) because: > > 1) It proposed multiple working solutions to his said "problem" > 2) It let me get out frustration to his tactless email. You cannot > underestimate or overlook the value theraputic responses. Hmmm... I am no psychotherapist, but I doubt that by flaming one user, whether justly or not, you will obtain any significant personal benefit. In my opinion, flaming only engenders personal antipathy between the parts. It is not in the interest of the Abiword project or of any other free software project to stimulate distaste for it in the community. > The fact that David blamed *us* for his having a hard time finding > libgal is a problem that needed addressing, which is further annoying > because it was hiding right underneath his nose. Mr. Thompson expressed his feelings about the "ease of installation", or rather the lack thereof. It is an explicit right of the development team to chose whether to address the "ease of installation" issue or not. The Perl community, for examply, greatly encourages personal recompilation of the sources, the motto being, "Use The Source". Therefore, if one of the foremost free software projects chooses to provide no binary distributions, you are certainly free to provide minimal ditributions, which, as you stated, are guaranteed to work only the machine of the builder. Yet, your freedom to delegate the responsibility of providing builds for the community to install and use directly, does not conflict with Mr. Thompsons liberty to express his feelings about the Abisource builds' ease of installation or lack thereof. Let me also state that rpmfind is also partly responsible for the installation difficulties: I, too, have had some trouble finding packages needed by Abiword, but a little patience did solve my problem. > I do not regret drawing out this discussion, because it is something > that needs to be addressed. If it takes more time for some people to > understand certain things than others, so be it. If you don't like it, > .killfile me or simply ignore this thread. I won't be any worse off > because of it and your demeanor may improve substantially. I am sorry that you take my mailings as a personal crusade against you, Mr. Lachowicz. I have no intention to killfile you. As I already mentioned, the main benefit of free software over commercial software is the intrinsically democratic nature of the community where the former is developed and used. Democracy is a societal condition whereby all members of a group have a right to express their opinion, with due respect, and have a duty to listen to others' opinions, again with due respect. Your comment on my demeanor is certainly in contrast with such requirements of democracy. I have addressed you and the Abiword community with a pacifying intent and have obtained a yield of spite. I am very much disappointed. Why in the world did you take up such a noble and generous quest as that to provide the computing community with a free word processor, if you are unable to carry out a peaceful and respectful discussion with your users? By distribution free software on the internet you expose yourself to communication from millions of different people, each with his or her set of needs. You definitely seem unprepared to cope with communication from the casual user with a casual problem. The page you mentioned having coauthored (http://www.abisource.com/support/expectations.phtml) makes it evident that you do not wish to be bugged by the community. If this is the case, then why do participate in the discussions on the users' mailing list? You can very well deal with code only and never know anything about the users. But, if you chose to act as a maintainer for Abiword, then implicitly you are responsible for communicating with your users, as well as for maintaining a moderate tone in your postings. No one benefits from flames. Now grow up and learn this. Alex Baretta ----------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word unsubscribe in the message body.
